ES2668637T3 - Procedure and installation of egg watch - Google Patents

Abstract

Procedure for analyzing objects held in locations that meet a repetitive distribution of longitudinal lines and transverse rows on a conveyor that drags them forward in the longitudinal direction through a visiometric examination station that includes lighting means that illuminate said locations at each row that is examined by means of individual incident beams and sensing means sensitive to the emergent beams retransmitted from said objects, as well as means of analysis by measurement of attenuation between incident beam and emergent beam for each location, in which said objects are eggs held individually in alveoli of trays that constitute said locations, the procedure including examining each row in at least two stages of successive measurement cycles, illuminating the alveoli to be examined by means of different doses of illumination, in which, in the first stage, illuminate all the alveoli of the current row in conditions on purpose to discover the presence of empty alveoli, and the coordinates of their locations in said current row are determined and stored in memory, and in the second stage, only the non-empty alveoli of said row are illuminated in conditions on purpose to determine a state of each of said eggs by measurement of attenuation between incident beam and emerging beam for each alveolus.

Description

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DESCRIPTION

Procedure and installation of egg watch

The present invention relates to viscometry examination techniques when they fall on objects that are

present for examination in defined discrete locations, arranged by successive rows, in advance

continuous, according to a regularly repeated regular spatial distribution. The notion of viscometry examination is oriented in this document to all optoelectronic techniques that involve an image capture that detects a light beam from each object subjected to exposure under an incident radiation, as well as a process analysis of image made on the signals obtained, under the

control of adapted logic equipment, to infer the status of the objects examined in consideration of

certain properties. On the other hand, the notion of object extends, within the scope of the invention, to what will later become apparent as an absence of object. In other words, the objects considered are qualified rather as locations, understanding that these locations obey the periodically repetitive relative arrangement in successive rows already discussed.

In all that follows, different ways of putting the invention into practice will be described with more specific reference to its preferred applications, which are located within the scope of the food industry, for bird eggs. Then, in practice, the locations under examination under radiation are the different tray alveoli in which the eggs are ordered, each of them being received in one of the alveoli. On the other hand, the operations of looking at the eggs, as they are currently carried out in an intermediate stage of chick production in terms of chicken eggs, between an incubator and a hatchery, are intended to examine Eggs for transparency by exposing them individually to a light beam, most of the time with infrared light, in order to establish a distinction between the eggs according to a state of fertilization of each of them and, thus, to allow selecting those that they are fertilized, excluding those that are not and that, therefore, it is useless to send to the hatcheries where chicks will be born. More specifically, each egg is attributed a quality of fertilized state or unfertilized state depending on the attenuation experienced by a light beam to which it is exposed. But, whether for eggs, for any other products in individualized units, or even for discrete locations consisting of adjacent areas of a continuous product, it will be clearly available to an expert in the field to extrapolate the vocabulary to apply the invention to other criteria of discrimination and selection, as well as other industrial fields.

In conventional egg-watching facilities, including those described especially in international patent application WO 99/14589 (Ecmas) or in US patent US 5900929 (Embrex), some trays are advanced in series. They contain lots of eggs. In general, it is directly the trays used for the incubation of the eggs. The eggs are located in them in alveoli located in regularly distributed locations, within each tray, according to a repetitive distribution of longitudinal lines and transverse rows. The trays are placed one after the other horizontally on a conveyor device (for example, of the type of closed loop circulating belt) that drags them through the optoelectronic examination station.

In the latter, a radiation source emits an incident luminous flux that individually illuminates each of the eggs. When it is an application aimed at locating the air chamber inside the eggs, these lighting means that illuminate the eggs are arranged on the same side as the detectors that receive the emerging light from the eggs and determine their composition according to of the modification induced by each of them. The same would happen if, for example, the application consisted of examining the coloring of fruits that were kept individually, instead of the eggs, inside the alveoli of similar trays. But in the most common applications of looking at eggs aimed at distinguishing fertilized eggs from eggs that are to be removed from the current chain, as an example is taken at this point, the source is usually arranged under the circuit of transfer of the trays, for a bottom-up lighting towards detectors located above. Advantageously, although not imperatively, a light in the infrared wavelength range is used.

For the sensing means sensitive to the emerging flow, it is possible to use either individual sensors respectively associated with each egg, or, preferably, a video camera. When the detected light intensity falls below a predetermined threshold, betraying a threshold attenuation that can be calculated in a known manner based on the diffusion properties of the eggs or determined experimentally, this indicates the presence of an embryo germ, and the The system is governed to automatically attribute the quality of the fertilized state to the examined egg. The honeycomb structure of the incubation trays is obviously adapted to the optical examination. In general, the alveoli are devoid of depth, for a transmission examination, and they keep the eggs with their vertical major axis, which lends itself perfectly to an examination that is of interest in the proximity of this major axis.

The configurations of the locations in more common lines and rows, especially for alveoli that receive eggs, are either square mesh, triangular mesh, or, more particularly, hexagonal mesh,

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in what is usually called a provision to tresbolillo. The three-pin arrangements differ from the square mesh arrangements because, from one row to another, the alveoli are not in line in the longitudinal direction of travel, but are displaced laterally. For example, if the displacement distance can be any fraction of the alveoli distribution step within each row, the most frequent triplet distribution corresponds to a half-step displacement, in a regular distribution of hexagonal mesh type .

On the other hand, the lighting means and associated detection means are arranged and piloted in accordance with the spatial configuration of the tray alveoli. In industrial exploitation, an optimal compromise between processing cadence, reliability of classifications, installation and implementation costs entails operating simultaneously on a group of egg locations repetitively in the course of the advance through an examination station view in which the equipment remains fixed. That is to say, in a general way, the examination takes place row by row, as the successive rows move forward under the detectors. From this point of view, the invention provides, as will be better explained below, to examine the displaced rows of the three-pin arrangements considering them grouped together, to use the same lighting means and detecting means, for example, on the row of even order and the odd order row in each pair of rows of a hexagonal mesh arrangement.

Preferably, the analysis by visometric examination aimed at detecting the presence of fertilized eggs takes place at the entrance of the egg lookout facility. The trays are manually or automatically deposited on the conveyor device, for example a closed-loop circulating belt conveyor, which drags them through the vision test station. Upon leaving the latter, the installation is advantageously completed with a marking station, in which the eggs are selectively marked, for subsequent transfer to differentiated reserved destinations, depending on whether or not they are fertilized. In general, classification is done manually to remove unfertilized eggs from the chain, but it can also be done automatically by means of supplementary equipment.

The invention is aimed at improving the conditions of industrial exploitation of such egg watching facilities, mainly in relation to the reliability of the detection of the state of fertilization of the eggs and the processing rate. Especially in the case of an installation in which the egg trays are processed in line at a marking station after the visionometric examination station, the problem of being able to mark the eggs efficiently and quickly is posed, directly using the signal produced by Digital processing of the images captured by the vision test, while operating carefully so as not to incur the risk of breaking the eggshells. For the same purposes of a high cadence processing with total security in the selection of eggs depending on their state of fertilization, it is useful to find a solution to some difficulties that appear in the visionometric examination station when, for each location of the set in advance, there are more than two states to distinguish, especially if by accident there have been empty cells in certain rows of eggs.

According to one of its aspects, the present invention takes into consideration the fact that the attenuation measures of the light beams can be strongly disturbed by glare phenomena of the camera's sensors when the luminous fluxes to be detected at the same time they are of too different intensity levels and, therefore, lead to false information concerning the status of the eggs examined. This situation is frequently encountered, for example in the presence of a rotten egg or an empty socket between clear and fertilized eggs. It is easy to form an idea that the absence of an egg

in a socket, allowing all the emitted luminous flux to pass through, it results in a very high intensity lighting,

much higher than when an egg is present, whatever the state of the latter. Subsidiarily, when it is a clear egg, what is present in a certain socket, it relatively lowers the light flow that crosses it, but the attenuation of this flow is significantly stronger for an egg with a false germ, a fertilized egg, an egg rotten, citing at this point the three cases in ascending order of attenuation.

By way of non-limiting example, the diagram in Figure 3, which appears at the end of the present description, schematically illustrates the scale of the light intensities / captured by the detection chamber. These extend in three ranges of very differentiated luminous intensities:

- G1: very high illumination corresponding to the case "absence of egg" (intensity / 1);

- G2: high lighting corresponding to the "light egg" case (faith intensity);

- G3: low illuminations corresponding to the cases "false germ" (faith intensity), "fertilized egg"

(faith intensity) and "rotten egg" (faith intensity).

Due to the presence of this scale of light intensities so "dilated", there is a risk of "glare" of the camera sensor. Indeed, in modern devices, a monolithic semiconductor sensor, of the type called "CCD" is used most often according to the usual Anglo-Saxon abbreviation (for "Charge Coupled Device" or "load coupling device"). Such a sensor may be constituted from

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a bar of photodetector elements or photosites. These photodetectors convert the captured light into electrical signals. They are aligned on the bar parallel to the rows of the alveoli and work simultaneously for all the alveoli of each row in progress at the visionometric examination station. If the photon flow that affects one of the photodetectors is too energetic, the aforementioned phenomenon of glare appears, which translates into a parasitic diffusion of electrons to the neighboring photodetector elements. As a more annoying consequence in the chick production industry, this results, for example, in that the absence of an egg in a socket alters the result for neighboring alveoli and that, for each of them, even if there is presence of an egg, it cannot be distinguished whether or not it is fertilized. In other words, this situation can cause the signal processing chain to malfunction (processing performed by the automatic analysis device) and, as a result, prevent a correct differentiation between the transparency states presented by the eggs they occupy the alveoli belonging to the same row as the alveolus that caused the error, which are examined at the same time.

In the state of the art, as is especially apparent from documents US 5900929, EP 1457108, US 3540824, US 4843958 and WO 00/36411, it is necessary then to throw all the eggs from that row, which obviously leads to waste and economic losses that should be avoided. In the case of an industrial complex, it is not possible to consider stopping the detection operation, since the classification rate is very high, typically of the order of 6000 eggs per hour.

One might think that, to avoid this phenomenon, it is enough to "contract" the scale of the light intensities, lowering the maximum level of light intensity (absence of egg: intensity / 1). However, it is found that the G3 range consists of levels of light intensities relatively close to each other. Thus it turns out that discrimination between the three levels of this range is difficult to realize. In order to obtain a good contrast and to be able to effect this discrimination, it is necessary to resort to a relatively intense illumination dose, which has the effect of dilating the G3 range, but also, correlatively, the extension of the full scale of the intensities and, therefore, the maximum level of lighting, and the risks of glare are exacerbated. In a more general case, any number of ranges of levels of light intensities far apart can be found. And as in the case of the look of the eggs, the sensitivity scales of the test under light radiation are often closer to a logarithmic scale than to a proportional scale.

Therefore, the need to avoid the risks of glare of the detection sensor is felt, while preserving the possibility of fine discrimination between luminous intensities of levels relatively close to each other, that is, to obtain a good contrast , which seems completely contradictory.

The invention aims to alleviate the disadvantages of the devices of the known technique. For this purpose, it proposes to perform the vision test of each row in several successive stages (at least two), illuminating the locations to be examined by means of lighting doses that are chosen different from one stage to another between two successive stages, and not illuminating , in a second stage, more than those of the locations that in a first stage have not revealed to present a state that would cause a dazzle of the sensor in the second stage.

The invention translates in particular, in terms of procedure, into a method of analyzing objects held in locations that meet a repetitive distribution of longitudinal lines and transverse rows on a conveyor that drags them forward in longitudinal direction, through a visionometric examination station that includes sensing means sensitive to emerging beams retransmitted from said objects, characterized in that the examination of each row is carried out in at least two successive stages or measurement cycles, illuminating the locations to be examined by different lighting doses and not illuminating, in a second stage, more than those of the locations that in a previous first stage have not revealed to present a state that would cause in the second stage a dazzling of the disturbing sensing means for the neighboring locations of the same row that examine.

If we look at the preferred cases of application of the invention, in which we find situations that are identical or similar to those of the gaze of the eggs, that is, in which it is intended to determine a state to be attributed to each of said objects in function of the consequences that they induce in a beam of illumination to which they are exposed, to the passage of each of the successive rows of a batch of eggs to be classified according to whether they are clear or fertilized, or of similar objects held within alveoli of trays constituting said locations, secondary features of the invention, which are applied individually or simultaneously in any technically operating combination, are advantageously the following:

The two successive measurement cycles are then advantageously carried out respectively during a second main stage carried out under conditions on purpose to determine a state of transparency or the like that affects the attenuation of the beam in a sensitive manner for the emerging beam sensor, which it is preceded by a first stage carried out under conditions on purpose to discover the presence of empty alveoli and to determine and record the coordinates of their locations in the current row, in order to govern the lighting conditions in the second stage so as not to illuminate them .

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On the other hand, the irradiation dose adapted to the sensitivity range of each stage is advantageously regulated by varying the exposure time under a given emitting power. By choosing the irradiation dose for each stage in order to avoid a risk of glare from adjacent detectors around an empty egg location (or similar object), it is easily understood that the duration of exposure of the objects, for each row, It is relatively short for the first stage and relatively long for the second stage.

The light source that illuminates the objects to be examined is advantageously constituted from a series of electroluminescent diodes, or "LED" according to the commonly used Anglo-Saxon abbreviation. These diodes or LEDs are arranged parallel to the rows of the locations to be analyzed and, therefore, according to a direction transverse to the movement of the objects dragged by the conveyor. More precisely, these are aligned parallel to the rows of alveoli in the trays that receive the eggs and, therefore, generally in a row perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of travel.

According to a secondary feature of the invention, the different illumination doses are applied in at least two successive cycles, sufficiently close in time to illuminate the same row in progress at the visionometric examination station, which use the same source diodes, of the same intensity, but for different durations, in order to condition at least two different sensitivity ranges, while avoiding the dazzling phenomenon of all or part of the photodetectors from each other.

During the first measurement cycle, a relatively low dose is applied and the automatic analysis device detects the presence or not of empty alveoli and, if found, determines and memorizes their coordinates in the row examined (order number in transverse position in that row). During the second measurement cycle, lighting of only the non-empty socket locations is governed with a relatively intense dose. The automatic analysis device discriminates, if any, alveoli containing clear eggs by distinction with those containing other categories of eggs, especially fertilized eggs, and records the respective coordinates of these two potential categories of alveoli. These coordinates are particularly simple to express by the order number of the socket in its row and the order number of this row in a longitudinal line in the tray.

The relatively low and relatively intense light doses are chosen to allow, the second, a contrast in the photodetectors that distinguishes the fertilized eggs from the unfertilized eggs, and to discover, the first, the locations in which the application of the second would lead for the corresponding photodetectors the presence of a light intensity too high, capable of inducing a glare phenomenon.

Other features of the invention relate to the organization of correlated spatial arrangements for camera photodetectors and lighting diodes, synchronizing the activation of these two series of components under the control of automatic means.

Thus, in the case in which the cells have a three-way configuration, it is advantageous to group the rows of cells two at a time by providing a light source constituted from a double number of LEDs than that of the number of cells per row. In this configuration, each diode is activated in coincidence with the transit through its field of one of every two rows of alveoli. In other words, in this embodiment, half of the diodes are assigned to the lines of even rank cells, the other half to the lines of odd range.

The number of lighting cycles can also be multiplied, each cycle leading to a different lighting dose (especially by means of a duration of its own for a light intensity that remains identical), for example, to proceed to three cycles. In the third cycle, in the preferred application of the invention regarding the look of the eggs, the automatic analysis device differentiates the really fertilized eggs from the other categories of unclear eggs present (eggs with false germ, rotten egg). Only the alveoli capable of containing one or the other of these categories of unclear eggs (as a consequence of the analysis carried out in the second measurement cycle) are illuminated in the third cycle.

As a consequence of these successive discriminations, the eggs can be classified and / or marked at the exit of the egg lookout facility. In practice and in a preferred embodiment, those that are marked and / or classified are clear eggs, to be eliminated, only fertilized eggs being preserved. Therefore, in general we limit ourselves to proceed in two stages, under operating conditions that are determined in order not to illuminate the empty alveoli in the second stage of illumination that allows to detect the presence of clear, unfertilized eggs, considering that little it matters that with the correctly fertilized eggs there are still eggs with false germ or even rotten eggs, which neither can nor see the birth of a chick.

However, it may also be useful to proceed to a more advanced analysis operating in more than two stages. In particular, the invention allows useful statistics to be recorded by recording the results in computer files and subjecting them to calculations adapted to determine data such as the profitability of fertilization or the quality of a delivery received at a hatchery.

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In terms of device, the invention translates especially in an optoelectronic analysis system that is preferably applied in an egg-watching facility that, maintained within tray alveoli, are capable of presenting at least two states, fertilized and clear, respectively, said cells being arranged in locations that meet a specific configuration of lines and rows.

Said installation includes in a known way a conveyor device that drags successive trays of

eggs at a certain speed through a vision test station that includes a source

bright, which generates a lighting beam on purpose for each of these eggs in each row

successively in progress by said station, and means of synchronized detection of the beams emerging from

said eggs, as well as means that automatically determine a state of said eggs, especially a fertilized state or not, depending on the attenuation induced by each egg in the corresponding beam.

In the modes of implementation of the invention best adapted to industrial practice, the light source is constituted from a plurality of electroluminescent diodes aligned parallel to the rows of egg receiving locations in the trays (the alveoli), and The detection means are made in the form of a sensor constituted from a bar of a plurality of photodetectors sensitive to the emitted light, whose spatial configuration is correlated with that of said electroluminescent diodes. Appropriate means are then provided to pilot synchronously, on the one hand, the selective emission of beams by means of said electroluminescent diodes, in order to simultaneously illuminate predetermined alveoli in each row in progress at the examination station and, on the other, the reception of the emerging beams by means of photodetectors of said sensor in spatial relation with the electroluminescent diodes that emit light.

According to the invention, such piloting is programmed to automatically handle at least two cycles of attenuation measurement by light emission of predetermined durations that deliver doses of different illuminations, each avoiding a glare of the beam-sensitive detection means. emerging, namely, a first cycle in which the emitted light illuminates illuminates all the alveoli of the current row for a first duration, in order to determine the existence or not of empty egg alveoli, which results in the detection of a non-attenuated high-energy light, and to record in a memory media the coordinates of the locations according to whether the corresponding alveoli are empty or not, and a second cycle in which the emitted light illuminates only the alveoli whose coordinates indicate that there are presence of an egg, for a second duration, longer than said first duration, in order to discriminate the fertilized eggs of the light eggs, by detecting attenuations different from the light that emerges from said eggs. For further exploitation, occasionally in a subsequent station of the same installation, means are provided for the memory storage of the coordinates of the fertilized eggs and / or the light eggs.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 schematically illustrates an example of an egg watching facility that incorporates a visionometric examination station as well as a marking station for the unfertilized eggs;

Figure 2 schematically illustrates a preferred mode of configuration for a tray for transporting the eggs to be examined which is introduced into the installation of Figure 1, in partial view from above;

Figure 3 schematically illustrates a scale of the luminous intensities of the emerging beams for various categories of eggs when illuminated by an infrared light source;

Figure 4 schematically illustrates a LED light source configuration implemented in the automatic detection and analysis system of Figure 1;

and Figure 5 is a detail figure illustrating the illumination of an egg and the detection by a sensor of the light transmitted from this egg.

Before describing, by reference to Figure 1, the operation of the optoelectronic system comprising a detection device and an automatic fertilized egg analysis device itself, an example of architecture of an egg-watching facility will be described. 1 incorporating such a system, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the figures that follow, the common elements bear the same references and will not be described again except in case of need.

With the exception of the specific advantageous features of the invention that will be indicated and detailed below, the general architecture of such an installation is largely common, in itself, with those of the installations of the known art. The French patent with publication number 2768517 may be consulted at this point, for example. This is, moreover, a supplementary advantage of the system of the invention, which makes it possible to reuse well-known technologies and economically amortized equipment.

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Thus, the installation 1 comprises a conveyor 2, of a closed loop circulating belt or equivalent device, which has an inlet example 20 and an outlet portion 21 in the illustrated example. This conveyor drags in the direction of translation through the vision test station, in principle at constant speed, trays containing the eggs to be seen in the light (not shown), which are introduced one after another, manually, at the entrance of the installation. Advantageously, the trays are those that have been used for the incubation of the eggs.

Fixed between the two conveyor portions 20 and 21, there is a vision test station 3. This includes, at the bottom, a radiation source 31 which, in the particular case considered, emits individual beams of infrared light and , on the upper part, detection means, which are sensitive to the wavelength of the light emitted by the source 31 and which are constituted by discrete detectors or, preferably, by a video camera 30. The source 31 at Like the camera sensor 30, they will be described more fully later, in their constitution and synchronized operation, in connection with Figures 4 and 5.

Each of the egg trays successively inserted on the conveyor 2, for example tray 4a, cuts the beam 310 emitted by the source 31 between the two conveyor portions. It includes a plurality of alveoli in which the eggs that are to be seen in the light are located. The structure of these cells is such that they pass the beam 310 in the absence of eggs (the bottom, in general, is emptied). The eggs contained in these alveoli intercept the beam 310 and retransmit it with a variable attenuation depending on its state, and especially, in the scope of the described application, depending on its state of fertilization, depending on whether or not the egg is fertilized state This effect to be measured is not due, rather, to the more or less good quality of transparency of the egg, but rather to a greater or lesser diffusion of the light that penetrates the egg. This is the reason why, in fact, the measurement means that the lighting beam strikes the shell of the corresponding egg, even if it is not exactly along its axis.

The radiation received by the chamber 30 is converted into electrical signals that are transmitted on an output link 300, advantageously in the form of digital signals, on the one hand to a display organ 9, for example a cathodic display (link 301) , on the other hand to an automatic data processing system with recorded program 6 (link 302), which we will then simply call a computer. The latter can be a dedicated digital signal processor, or be of a standard type and equipped with timely ports. The computer analyzes, by means of image processing, under the direction of a specific software and in a manner known per se, the image signals received from the camera 30. The image processing thus performed allows to determine whether the analyzed eggs are fertilized or not. , placing the light beam attenuation index with the passage of each egg in relation to threshold values that limit predetermined ranges.

In a variant embodiment of the described installation, the display member 9, which is optional, may be piloted by signals received from the computer 6, and not directly from the camera 30, that is, prior to signal processing.

A preferred embodiment of the egg trays implemented in the conditions of practical application of the invention, for example tray 4a, is schematically illustrated by the detail figure 2 (in partial view from above). It shows a plurality of alveoli, with general references 40 to 44, which are intended to receive the eggs to be seen in the light (not expressly represented). These alveoli, 40 to 44, are arranged in successive rows, oriented parallel to each other transversely to the longitudinal direction of travel (arrow f). Thus, the figure represents five rows Ro to R4 by four lines lo to I3 in the longitudinal direction, in an arrangement that conforms to an orthonormal matrix. However, from one row to the next, the alveoli are arranged to the tresbolillo. In a more specifically hexagonal mesh arrangement, these are displaced half a step in a transverse direction between the rows of even order and the rows of odd order.

The infrared source 31 (Figure 1) is composed of a plurality of electroluminescent diodes or LEDs, according to the Anglo-Saxon abbreviation (for "Light Emitting Diode"). These diodes are arranged on a line parallel to the rows, Ro to R4, of the trays, for example 4a, that is, in a direction orthogonal to the displacement. They are spaced apart from each other, in the particular case considered at this point, the value of half a step, in order to travel each successive alveoli of the same line respectively, in the course of relative displacement. The LEDs 31 are governed in pulse mode by the computer 6 (link 60), at a certain timing depending on the speed of the conveyor, and synchronized with the advance of the alveoli, so that each diode produces an elementary beam of illumination of a socket at the time of its transit in front of the diode and that, therefore, said beam is modified by the egg that it contains before being detected by the chamber 30 to be analyzed.

Figure 4 schematically illustrates the configuration of the light source 31 of Figure 1, which is composed of a plurality of electroluminescent or "LED" diodes, according to the Anglo-Saxon abbreviation (for "Light Emitting Diode"), which emit in the infrared . These diodes are arranged in line parallel to the rows of the trays and, therefore, to a row Rx of order x supposed to be examined, that is, according to an orthogonal transverse direction to

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the longitudinal direction of advance through the vision test station.

In the particular case illustrated for a three-pin socket configuration, the number of diodes, Dxi to Dx4, is twice that of a row row. It has been assumed that the Rx row was of an odd order and comprised of 4x1 and 4x3 cells (assuming there are four lines), symbolized by ellipses in dashed lines. The diodes have been referenced with Dx1 to Dx4. In the example described, at the time represented in Figure 4, only diodes Dx1 and Dx3 are activated for the rows of odd order, because they are located under the 4x1 and 4x3 alveoli. When the next row of alveoli is above the diodes, the ones that will be activated for this even order row will be diodes Dx2 and Dx4.

It is interesting to note, however, that this provision is not at all limiting of the conditions of implementation of the invention. There are many situations in which it will be better to perform the illumination by means of several groups of diodes, especially two or three groups implanted side by side. Thus, the versatility of the machine is increased, which can be easily adapted to trays of different dimensions and steps. The lighting of the diodes is governed selectively according to the arrangement of the alveoli in the trays. The selection of the diodes that will light up is functionally equivalent to the mechanical adjustment of the position of the diodes under the alveoli.

In all cases, each lit diode produces an elementary beam intended to individually illuminate one of the alveoli of the row that is examined at the visionometry station. The diodes as a whole are governed in pulse mode by computer 6: multiple link 60.

Figure 5 schematically illustrates the illumination of an 0X1 egg, arranged in the 4x1 socket of the Rx row, by the diode Dx1.

The camera 30 comprises a sensor referenced with CCD constituted by a photodetector bar of the above type "CCD". According to an important feature of the invention, the CCD sensor is piloted by the computer 6 in synchronization with the piloting of the diodes, Dx1 to Dx4. Additionally, the linear spatial configuration of this sensor is correlated with that of these diodes. The piloting of the CCD sensor is obtained by generating control signals on a link 62 that links the computer with a camera control input 30.

If we refer to the diagram in Figure 3, the careless illumination of an empty egg socket incurrs the risk of causing a glare of photodetectors of the CCD sensor that receives the luminous flux that has not experienced any attenuation. The light intensity captured / 1 is, in effect, very high. To fix the ideas, if the camera used supports an average current of 100 mA (after conversion of light energy into electrical signals), a light pulse that induces a current of 1 A, if its duration is sufficient, it will generate a current average that exceeds the allowed limit of 100 mA. Therefore, the phenomenon of glare will occur.

Thus, in accordance with an important feature of the invention, it is envisaged to apply two measurement cycles to each row that is subsequently examined.

The first cycle consists in generating, under the government of the computer (link 60), a pulse of light that illuminates each of the alveoli of the row. The command pulse signals are transmitted to all diodes, D11 to D24. Always by way of example, the duration of this pulse is typically of the order of 100 ps, for the camera characteristics indicated above.

This first measurement cycle allows the occasional empty egg socket locations to be detected. The computer 6 enables the activation (command signal on link 62) of the photodetectors of the CCD sensor located on the alveoli lines of the current row, receives (link 302) the electrical signals from the optoelectronic conversion performed by this sensor, analyzes the image signals so received and submits them to an automatic processing at the end of which governs the recording, in memory media (not represented) associated with them, of the coordinates in the current tray of the empty alveoli whose existence it has been detected, by distinction with the alveoli in which there is the presence of an egg.

Then a second measurement cycle begins. In whole or in part, diodes Dx1 to Dx4 receive a second command pulse generated by the computer 6 to illuminate again the eggs present in their alveoli, for example the 0X1 egg. The lighting is selective. Only the diodes in relation to spatial coincidence with non-empty alveoli are activated. Therefore, on link 60, computer 6 only transmits command signals to these diodes, based on the analysis results obtained at the end of the preceding cycle and the recorded coordinates that distinguish empty and non-empty alveoli. The duration of the impulse is higher than that of the first impulse, in order to expose the eggs to a greater amount of light, since it operates with an identical light intensity. In a synchronized manner, the computer 6 sends to the camera a signal (link 62) that enables the detection of the beams emitted by the activated diodes as they are retransmitted attenuated by the eggs.

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Always by way of example, the pulse duration generated during the second cycle is typically of the order of 1 ms. This exposure time makes it possible to differentiate light eggs (figure 3: intensity I2) from the other categories of eggs, with the light intensities (I3 to I5) being transmitted between the eggs and received by the CCD sensor for these categories . This differentiation is done by computer 6, which receives the signals (link 302) from the optoelectronic conversion performed by the sensor.

Since empty alveoli (if any) are not exposed, there is no longer a risk of dazzling photodetectors, as the attenuation provided by the other categories of eggs is strong enough, whatever they may be.

For each row in progress, the two cycles follow a sufficiently rapid rate so that the vertical symmetry axes A (figure 5) of the illuminated eggs do not have time to move significantly in relation to the test conditions, taking into account of the speed of advance that is printed to them by means of the conveyor 2 (figure 1) by relative translation with respect to the equipment of emission of the incident beams and of detection of the emergent beams. Thus, it is ensured that the beams emitted successively from one cycle to another correctly affect the same eggs. This is illustrated in Figure 5 assuming that the beams pass through the 0X1 egg to re-emerge in areas very close to each other, within a substantially circular area Zs of reduced radius dimension around the crown of the egg. This condition is simple to meet, since the transport speed of the conveyor is low compared to the speeds that can be achieved in the field of optoelectronics.

Always to fix the ideas, if we consider a rate of progress of typically 36,000 eggs per hour, each row containing 6 eggs, and a passage between alveoli of 40 mm (more generally, this step is between 30 and 50 mm) , the transit time under chamber 30 is approximately 600 ms. Given the technology available for applications of this type, it can be estimated that a time of approximately 150 ms is more than enough to capture the images by means of the camera 30, and the analysis and treatment of the signals of image received by the computer 6. During this period of time, the crown of the egg will only have advanced 10 mm, that is, ± 5 mm with respect to the axis. Separations of double or triple are possible while maintaining sufficient accuracy, since the essential thing is not that the beam passes through the egg according to its diameter, but that it affects the lower sphere of the shell. Hence the possibility of subjecting each row of alveoli to a third measurement cycle, occasionally a quarter, increasing the duration of exposure each time and excluding those of the locations that, in the preceding stage, called the first stage, have revealed for the corresponding egg a state that would cause in the next stage (second stage) a dazzle of the sensor.

In particular, this possibility can be advantageously used to obtain additional discrimination between the categories of eggs within the G3 range (Figure 3: rotten eggs, really fertilized eggs and eggs containing a false germ). Then we proceed to a third measurement cycle, of different duration from the first two. Always to fix the ideas, the respective durations of the three cycles could typically be the following: 100 ps, 1 ms and 4 ms.

The development of the first two cycles is totally similar to what has just been described for a two-cycle process only. At the end of the first two cycles, it has been possible to discriminate between empty alveoli (first cycle) and between, on the one hand, light eggs and, on the other, the other categories of eggs (second cycle). The coordinates of the categories of eggs thus discriminated at the end of the second cycle are recorded by the computer 6 in a storage means.

In the third cycle, the alveoli susceptible to contain eggs in the G3 range (figure 3) are illuminated by the third impulse. The operating mode is similar to the second cycle. The computer 6 sends synchronized command signals to the chamber 30 and to the diodes that are only in confrontation with alveoli capable of containing the eggs in a state conducive to an attenuation of the G3 range. Therefore, it becomes possible to differentiate these categories of eggs. It is an interesting application to count separately each of the categories thus distinguished, which provides a useful evaluation of the quality of the fertilization in the incubator, the index of filling of the trays, the performance to be expected from the hatchery.

After the analysis of the contents of the trays and the storage in memory of the coordinates of the various discriminated categories, at least two, namely, light eggs and fertilized eggs (or carriers of a false germ or rotten), and even a greater number of categories (processes of three cycles, or more), these trays continue their way through the interior of the lookout facility, dragged by the conveyor 2, until leaving this installation 1 again.

In a practical way, there are then three main possibilities (which can be combined):

- marking of eggs according to one class or several classes;

- simple classification;

constitution of statistics recorded in computer files, displayed and / or printed in listings.

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It is generally desirable to mark at least clear, unfertilized eggs, which have to be removed from the line that leads to the hatchery for chick production. In practice, after marking, these are removed manually at the exit of the installation, occasionally to be recovered. They can serve as food or serve as a culture medium for the manufacture of vaccines.

To selectively mark the eggs according to the category to which they belong, knowing their coordinates in the trays, although this knowledge is not sufficient, it is planned to temporarily correlate the output of an egg of a given category, which you want to mark, with the instant of marking, which is carried out when the eggs pass, row by row, through a predetermined area of exit from the installation, under a marking device. To achieve this, if we look again at Figure 1, an organ 8, of any suitable type, is provided, which detects the beginning of the transit of a new egg tray to see the light on the conveyor 2, for example tray 4b, and that, on an output link 80, it delivers a synchronization pulse transmitted to the computer 6. Similarly, the conveyor 2 comprises a displacement sensor 7 which, on an output link 70, delivers signals that allow determining the amplitude of the displacement of this conveyor 2. These signals, correlated with the moment of emission of the synchronization pulse (link 80), allow the calculation, at any time, of the position reached by a given tray. In this way, it is especially possible to know precisely the instant of exit of a tray, for example tray 4a: referenced with 4'a when leaving the installation 1 after having traveled the entire length of the output portion 21 of the conveyor 2.

Specifically in the particular case of application described to illustrate the implementation of the invention, the marking system 5 according to the invention is essentially constituted by a plurality of inking devices with ink ejector members, or nozzles. These devices are mounted fixed above the conveyor. They are distributed, in coincidence with the three-roll arrangement of the tray alveoli, in two sub-assemblies 52a and 52b, in a three-row arrangement also between two parallel rows of as many inking devices as there are alveoli in a tray row. In the transverse direction, the separation between the inking devices is equal to one step of the distribution of the alveoli, this on each of the two rows. In the longitudinal direction, the separation between the two rows is advantageously of half a step, as for the alveoli, which allows to govern all the inking devices at the same time. However, it is also possible to proceed in another way, when, for example, it is desirable to distance the two subsets further from each other, concomitantly using a slower feed rate chosen at the marking station than at the optical examination station.

Each inking device is constructed identically to a gasoline injector device, such as the injectors used, on the other hand, in the automotive industry to fuel the cylinders of an explosion engine. The injectors are fed by a pump 50, by means of conduits constituted, for example, from flexible hoses of synthetic material, connected in the same loop circuit 500 that is fed from a reservoir of coloring liquid 51, by intermediate of a conduit 510, in order to maintain a constant pressure of liquid in an accumulator chamber of each injector. The coloring liquid is non-aqueous, to avoid the risks of rust, the different circuit organs, injectors and pumps being made of steel. Preferably, a coloring product is used in alcoholic medium. For a soluble dye or a dispersible insoluble pigment, ordinary alcohol has the double advantage of being an easily available and economical organic solvent and of being compatible with food use.

The command commands of the marking injectors are delivered by the computer 6, in the form of pulses that are transmitted in two series of links, 61a and 61b, and which, for each injector governed to the marking, are directed to an electromagnetic valve that determines the opening of the nozzle that releases the coloring liquid, thus causing the emission of a jet of pressurized ink, 521a or 521b, which will mark the egg that passes at that moment under the corresponding nozzle.

The marking system thus used in accordance with the invention is particularly well adapted because the marks that are to be stamped on the eggs are simple marks, which represent elementary spots and which will not necessarily have to be preserved over time and, on the other On the other hand, the marking to be carried out is not intended for all the objects that advance through the installation, but only some of them previously identified (eggs not specially fertilized). Therefore, the needs are radically different from those prevailing, for example, when it comes to marking eggs in order to specify information intended for consumers, such as the date of laying or similar information, in which case you have to resort to sophisticated printing technologies to compose each character from an array of pixels.

In their mechanical assembly, the inking devices, with their respective nozzles, are immobile, advantageously fixed according to the advance lines of the objects on support bars transverse to the direction of travel, in an arrangement that each assigns them respectively to one of the objects in the same row that pass to its level. The inking liquid is constantly available, under sufficient pressure for the ink jet to reach the object to be marked. Its expulsion, for each nozzle individually, is triggered by opening a valve at the time of transit of an object to be marked. The absence of contact of the inking device itself with the object avoids running the risk of deterioration

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of the same, to the point that, for example in the case of eggs, there is no reason to fear that his shell will break.

In preferred embodiments of the marking system according to the invention, the inking devices are mounted on one or several bars in configuration of supports that are arranged above the plane traveled by the objects and oriented parallel to the rows of their distribution (transverse direction), the separation between two injectors, or step, correlated with the passage of the locations of the objects and, therefore, especially with the passage of the alveoli of the trays in the case of the look of the eggs.

In a particular embodiment according to the invention, the injectors of a bar are subject to its support by non-permanent means of engagement that allow a simple interlocking / unlocking and a regulation of the position of each injector along the support. Due to this characteristic, in which the injectors that concern the same row are mounted on their support bar in laterally adjustable positions, the marking device can accommodate various tray configurations containing the objects to be marked, eggs, fruits or others. Thus, it is possible, in particular, to modify the distance between two injectors adjacent to arrangements that may or may not keep the equidistance between the locations in each row.

In embodiments of the invention of advantageous application in situations where the trays have a three-pin configuration of the alveoli, the marking device comprises, as described above, two parallel support bars, the injectors being one bar displaced laterally with respect to the injectors of the other bar in spatial correlation with the triplet configuration of the objects. In other forms of implementation of the invention that are used as a variant, the injectors are mounted on their common support bar in order to be able to move them laterally a distance corresponding to the separation between the objects from one row to the next and, in operation, lateral displacement is governed in coincidence with the transit of the successive rows.

The marking government is made in coincidence with the determination of the fertilized state or not of the eggs, taking into account their lateral positions in a particular row of alveoli of the tray and the time necessary for this row to travel the distance that separates its position in the test that detects its arrival status in front of the printing nozzles corresponding to the alveoli that receive the eggs to be marked. In other words, in an installation that integrates the marking system downstream of a lookout system, the marking operations are carried out at the same rate as the visometric examination operations with a time difference that is regulated by the speed of the conveyor that advances the egg trays.

Claims (10)

5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 35 40 Four. Five fifty 1. Object analysis procedure maintained in locations that meet a repetitive distribution of longitudinal lines and transverse rows on a conveyor that drives them forward in direction longitudinally through a visionometric examination station that includes illumination means that illuminate said locations in each row that is examined by individual incident beams and sensing means sensitive to emerging beams retransmitted from said objects, as well as means of attenuation measurement analysis between incident beam and emergent beam for each location, wherein said objects are eggs held individually in tray alveoli constituting said locations, including the procedure examining each row in at least two stages of successive measurement cycles, illuminating the alveoli to be examined by different lighting doses, in which, in the first stage, all the alveoli of the current row are illuminated in conditions to purpose to discover the presence of empty alveoli, and they are determined and recorded in memory the coordinates of their locations in that current row, and in the second stage, only the non-empty cells of said row are illuminated under conditions on purpose to determine a state of each of said eggs by measuring attenuation between incident beam and emerging beam for each socket. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the illumination dose applied in each stage is regulated by variation of the exposure time under a given light output, the duration of exposure for the first stage being shorter and longer for The second stage 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, according to which the respective lighting conditions of the two stages are chosen to avoid a glare of the sensor means that would disturb the analysis, operating in two different sensitivity ranges that respectively allow, in said first stage, distinguish empty egg alveoli from those in which an egg is present, whether or not it is fertilized and, in said second stage, distinguish alveoli in which the present egg is fertilized and those in which The present egg is not fertilized. 4. Installation (1) for the lookout of the eggs, which includes trays (4a) with alveoli that receive the eggs to be analyzed in locations arranged according to a repetitive configuration of longitudinal lines and transverse rows, a conveyor (2) for the longitudinal direction of said trays, to advance them through a vision test station (5), including the vision test station (3) a light source (31) that generates an incident beam of illumination of each of said eggs of each row successively in progress by the visionometric examination station and sensing sensing means (30) of the emerging beams retransmitted by said eggs, as well as means of automatic analysis by measuring the attenuation experienced by the light between incident beam and emerging beam at each location of the socket, pilot means (6) that synchronously govern said light source (31) and said detection means (30) to subject each row of cells to at least two successive measurement cycles under different lighting doses, namely: a first cycle in which all the alveoli of the current row are illuminated by applying a relatively low illumination dose, is determined, depending on the attenuation of the light between incident beam and emergent beam for each alveolus, whether it is treated or not of an empty socket, which does not contain an egg, and the coordinates of any empty socket whose presence is detected in this row in this row are recorded in memory, and a second cycle in whose course, applying a dose of relatively intense illumination, only the alveoli of the current row are illuminated whose coordinates indicate that there is the presence of an egg, under conditions on purpose to automatically determine a state of each of said eggs depending on the attenuation experienced by the light between incident beam and emerging beam for each socket. 5. Installation according to claim 4, configured to discriminate said eggs according to 5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 35 fertilized and clear states depending on the attenuation of the light intensity induced by each egg between incident beam and emerging beam as determined in the course of said second measurement cycle. 6. Installation according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that said light source (31) is constituted from a bar that includes a plurality of electroluminescent diodes (Dx1-Dx4) aligned parallel to the rows of cells in said trays (4a), and said detection means (30) including a plurality of photodetectors (CCD) whose spatial configuration is correlated with that of said electroluminescent diodes (D11-D24), said piloting means are programmed to automatically handle at least two measurement cycles that entail, for the same light output, different lighting durations, namely, a relatively short duration in the first cycle and a relatively long duration in the second cycle . 7. Installation according to claim 6, characterized in that said electroluminescent diodes (Dx1-Dx4) emit in the infrared. 8. Installation according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that said alveoli (4X1-4X3) are arranged according to a triplet configuration, in that the number of said electroluminescent diodes (Dx1-Dx4) is twice that of the alveoli ( 4X1-4X3) of said rows (Rx) and why they are governed to emit alternately the passage of a row of even order to an odd row of order. 9. Installation according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that said eggs (OX1) are capable of presenting at least one supplementary state to said fertilized and clear states, each supplementary state being characterized by an attenuation of the light passing through said eggs close to that associated with said fertilized state, said light emission cycles comprise a third cycle, of a different duration from said first and second cycles, said second cycle discriminating the light eggs of the fertilized eggs or having a supplementary state, and because this third cycle includes the emission of light that illuminates the alveoli whose coordinates indicate the presence of one of these states, of a third duration, longer than said first duration, in order to discriminate said fertilized eggs from said eggs that present a third state, by detecting different attenuations of the light passing through said eggs according to their state, and the storage in memory of some coordinates of the fertilized and / or third state eggs, choosing the illumination dose applied to each cycle such that the risk of glare of the sensing means sensitive to emerging beams is avoided. 10. Installation according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized by including a marking device (5) of said eggs, by printing stains (521a, 521b) of certain shapes and / or colors, arranged in a predetermined position of said conveyor device (2), and by which said automatic analysis means (6) comprise means for generating selective control signals (51a, 61b) of this marking device (5), in temporal relation to the progression of said trays (4a) on said conveyor device (2) and in spatial relationship with the coordinates of said eggs (OX1) to be marked on the trays (4a) that have at least one of said states to be identified.